1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a golf putting practice device and more particularly to such a practice device that fits into the floor duct of a forced air circulation system of a building and has a ball return mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of golf putting practice devices are known in the prior art. Many such devices are designed to sit on the surface of a floor for putting practice and include a ball return mechanism that returns a ball back to the user after a successful putt. Although, such devices are useful for putting practice, they include a ramped sidewall that leads up to a simulated putting cup and, therefore, are not truly representative of putting on a golf green.
To overcome the deficiency of ramped golf practice devices, prior art practice devices have been developed that are adapted to fit into the floor duct of a forced air circulation system of a building such as those disclosed in U.S. Patents to Birchler, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,063; Ridge, U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,405 and Frotten, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,375. The golf practice devices disclosed in these patents substantially eliminate the need for a ramped sidewall, but they all are formed from flat support plates that surround a ball receiving portion of the device, which flat plates provide an obstruction to such portion.
To lessen this problem, the Frotten patent discloses a golf practice device fabricated of a resilient material so that the device can be installed in a floor duct by bending the support plate for insertion underneath the carpet surrounding the duct. Although such configuration is an improvement in reducing obstruction to the ball receiving portion, the Frotten practice device cannot readily be moved from one vent to another and depending on the thickness of the carpet under which it is installed, the path to the cup is not completely level. Moreover, none of these in-floor devices include a ball return mechanism.
The present invention is designed to provide a golf putting practice device that overcomes the deficiencies of the foregoing prior art.